Spider in the Web
by BashfulC
Summary: When Lex hears from his estranged sister, he calls in the help of the Smallville Scoobies (also known as Clark, Chloe, and Lana) to help find her.


Title: Spider in the Web.  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Author: BashfulC (for now)  
  
Pairings: Lex/Chloe, Clark/Lana  
  
Spoilers: Um..At this point I have no friggin clue.  
  
Summary: When Lex hears from his estranged sister, he enlists the Smallville Scoobies for help (also known as Chloe, Clark, and Lana) in finding her.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the Smallville chara's settings or such. I do, however, own Cleo, www.whatever.net, Lex' email address from when he was a teen, Annabel Dupree, and the whole Cleo concept.  
  
Author Notes: I'm looking for someone to possibly write the next chappy (I'm hoping this will be a round robin of sorts). If no one is interested, I will write it myself but it would be fun! If you'd be interested, let me know.  
  
***Spider in the Web***  
  
~~~~Prologue~~~~  
  
Cleopatra Luthor looked around her penthouse apartment suite and sighed. She really didn't want to do this but she had no choice. She was never going to be the Little Lady her father had always wanted her to be. Cleo knew that if she stayed she'd end up just like Lionel; a malicious and angry individual who believed that the Earth's population existed for his personal use. That was not the kind of life she wanted. So she was bolting. She glanced at the clock, 6 am. Perfect.  
  
For the last week she had monitored her father's sleeping habits and she knew he wouldn't awaken until 7 am. Her brother wouldn't awaken until noon, at the earliest. Last night he had gotten completely wasted so she didn't think he would wake up until either three pm or until Lionel woke him up.  
  
She quietly grabbed her duffel bags stuffed all the money she had taken out of her personal account, her clothes, and essential items such as he scrapbook of her family. She slipped into her knee length leather duster and silently crept into her brother's room and smiled softly.  
  
"Lex? You awake?" she whispered, not wanting to disturb her father. Lex twitched.  
  
"No." He mumbled. She stifled a laugh. Setting her things on a divan, she sat on the edge of his bed. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at her with annoyance and confusion. She bit her lip.  
  
"I'm leaving Lex. I can't stay." She whispered. She tumbled off the bed when he snapped to attention and sat straight up. Rubbing her behind, she looked up at Lex with a half annoyed and half bemused look. He ignored it.  
  
"Why?" he croaked. She sighed and struggled back up onto his bed. She patted his cheek.  
  
"You know why, Lex. Dad-Dad is just too much. I don't want to follow in his footsteps and I'm afraid if I stay I will. I will always love you Lex, how can I not? Were twins; that creates an irreplaceable bond that will never falter. But I'm afraid you won't be hearing from me in a while. Maybe some day we can reunite, but don't expect it to be soon." She warned him. Lex still looked confused and Cleo had the definite impression that Lex hadn't heard a word she said. She silently chuckled.  
  
"Goodnight Lex." She pushed him back into bed and tucked him in like their mother had done to them when they were younger. She kissed his forehead before getting up. She gathered her stuff and with one last look back at her sleeping brother, she walked out of his life: forever.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
It took two years before Lionel Luthor stopped searching for his daughter. At Lex and Cleo's sixteenth birthday, he officially closed the case with the police department. He had all pictures and papers of Cleo burned, all of her things sent to charity. He virtually erased her from his life and banned Lex from ever mentioning her.  
  
What Lionel didn't know was that Lex had saved several of his sister's things, including a picture of the two of them with there mother before she died and his sisters journal. He never spoke of his sister with anyone, not even Clark. However, on occasion, he found himself thinking and worrying about Cleo. Was she getting enough food? Did she have shelter? Was she happy? He was plagued with questions such as these and more but the question that always came to mind was: Did she ever think of him?  
  
Because like it or not, he missed her. She simply disappeared the night after their fourteenth birthday, never to be heard of again. He wanted his big sister (okay, she was only four minutes older) back in his life.  
  
~~~~Chapter One~~~~  
  
Seven Years Later  
  
Lex Luthor drummed his fingers on the desk top, waiting for his computer to connect with the net. He hadn't checked his teenage email in nearly a week. He didn't expect to have any emails on this particular address; it was his personal one that very few people knew about. Lex shook his head. Truthfully, he only kept this particular address because it was the only one Cleo would remember.  
  
Though he had shared most of his life with Clark, he never mentioned Cleo. Cleo was his twin sister and a forbidden subject when it came to Lionel. Although Lex thought of her at times, he never discussed her with anyone. Most of the world had forgotten about Cleo, at least, that's what he liked to think. He hadn't heard from her since the morning she disappeared. He had vague memories of her coming into his room at the Metropolis apartment but that was it.  
  
For years he had checked this address every weekend, hoping for a letter, a message, anything from his sister. It was a routine he had yet to break. In the back of his mind a voice told him he would probably never hear from her again, but he ignored it. He had lived seven years as an 'only child,' and in those seven years he could count the number of times he had been truly happy on his right hand. His life wasn't complete without Cleo; part of him was missing.  
  
"You have mail." The feminine voice from his computer startled him out of his thoughts and he straightened to study the screen. He didn't recognize the actual Sn, but he immediately recognized his sister's perverse sense of humor. There was no subject. He opened the email. Propping an elbow on the table, he placed his chin in his hand and proceeded to read.  
  
To: Lexus14@LuthorCorp.net  
  
From: RosesAreRed@whatever.net  
  
Subject: (none)  
  
"Dear Lexus,  
  
I know you haven't heard from me in a while and for that, I'm sorry. I just couldn't respond to any of your emails, I was too scared. I heard dad stopped looking for me on our sixteenth birthday. He probably isn't aware of it, but I was in the courthouse when he signed the paperwork. I stayed around Metropolis until dad wrote me out of his life and headed to Europe. I lived on the streets of Paris for about six months before an old woman took me in. Annabel Dupree lived in the country so the situation was ideal.  
  
When we first met, I told her I had run away from an abusive stepfather. Eventually though I told her the truth. She didn't mind, in fact I believe she knew all along. She died two years ago, leaving me with everything. According to the paperwork she stated that I was her sole granddaughter; her only son and his family had died three months before I showed up so no one questioned it.  
  
I now have a small cottage in the Parisian country side. I do moderately well; I have my own online company, www.whatever.net. I specialize in searching for lost family members (i.e. biological parents, siblings, and children) as well as arrange adoptions of Parisian and British children. Most of my clients find my URL amusing and I have a 95 % accuracy rate in the search. In other words, out of a hundred cases, 95 of them are solved. For the arrangement of adoption, over 65 percent are settled. I have a PhD in Social Services; I have my license to own a private adoption agency.  
  
As well as my online work, I've also written about ten novels total. Five of them have been published. I work under a penname, Lillian Dupree. I know you believe that with all this info I'm giving you you'll be able to track me down, unfortunately, you'd be wrong. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm a Luthor. If I don't want to be found, I won't be.  
  
That's all the info you're gonna get for today. I'll email you next week. I love you Lexus, I always have and I always will.  
  
All my love,  
  
Cleopatra Luthor  
  
Lex took a deep breath. She was alive. She was happy and well off. She had a home, a job, and a hobby. She was helping people find there families. She had grown to be so much like his mother. Even though he hadn't seen Cleo in nearly seven years, he could already tell that much from her email. She had made sure that the first thing she did was apologize and had then explained what she had been up to in the past years.  
  
He read through the email again before printing it out. Saving the email, he logged off the net, shut down his laptop, and walked out of the room. She said he wouldn't be able to find her cause she was a Luthor and knew how to dust her tracks so to speak. Well, she had forgotten something. He was a Luthor as well and he was going to find his sister, he didn't care how long it took or how much it cost, he was going to find her. He just had to find the right person.  
  
It had to be someone who knew how to extract information, get details, and had no qualms about doing something slightly illegal in order to get what they wanted.  
  
Someone who wouldn't give up without a fight.  
  
Someone who he could trust.  
  
Someone like Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan. 


End file.
